The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-06-16

had instructed the officials to report an
goods of the kind described and detai1
them until further instructions. 1t wa
his intention on receiving such an intima
ton to report the matter to the Ministe
of Finance.
NJ Kinney asked-Have you a lette
in your possession in which special men
ton is made of firearms and ammunition
The Attorney General objected, on the
same grounds as before.
Mr.. Kinney held that rebuttal, in the
legal sense, meant rebuttal of subject mat
ter, not mere words. He wished to show
that the detention was under specific in
structions from the Finance Department
The Attorney General stated that in his
opinion rebuttal could not be applied to
the general line of defense, but only to
the statement of a witness. Mr.. Cleg-
horns evidence corroborated that of the
other two witnesses.
Witness said that if any case had been
reported to him he would have reported it
to the Finance Department, and waited
| instructions from them.
His Honor permitted the question to be
| put.
| Mr.. Kinney then asked whether on the
Wednesday, when the suit was brought,
| there were any instructions received at the
Custom House from the Finance Depart
ment to detain firearms and ammunition
until further orders
The Attorney General objected to the
question in this form, on the ground that
the answer to it would be hearsay evil
dence
Mr.. Kinney held that such evidence
might be given as official" knowledge,
but consented to .put the question thus
Do you know as matter of fact now that
such instructions were received?
Witness-Yes; on Monday morning,
June 18th, saw those instructions. Geo
duced.)
The Attorney General objected to the
letter containing these instructions being
put in evidence in this way, as it was
not rebuttal and no proper foundation for
it.had been laid. There should be founda-
ton as to whether any instructions had
been given other than those of the Collec-
tor General-whether any instructions had
been given'in consequence of that letter.
He had no objection to the letter being
put III, but let it be done properly.
His Honor - Were any instructions
given on that letter?
Witness-Better read the letter. 1t could |
not have any effect on my case. did not |
receive it until 18th June.
Mr.. Kinney observed that when a suit |
was brought against an official he was
held responsible for the acts of his author
lied agents. That letter proved the de-
tense offered to be incorrect, because it !
said what they were to do with the goods.
The Attorney General said it did not
show that any instructions were given in
that letter, which might have been re-
ceived after the suit was brought. There
was no time to breathe. The suit was
brought when the rifles were still on the
vessel.
His Honor was unable to see what
grounds there were for bringing in that
letter.
Cross examined by the Attorney Gen
eral, witness stated that he had given the
instructions before receiving the letter.
When he took Office in May he called all
the Custom House officers together and
told them to be more particular than they
hoo OCOA' AACS WCAO " AOAO
goods over till the following day for the
Appraiser to ascertain if their value were
correct. Nothing under value of any mo-
ment had been found since witness took
office There were a few Chinese cases.
His main object for these instructions
was that for some months previously
packages had been arriving, especially
from San Francisco, entered i'll such
manner that it would be necessary to go
through, say ten packages, to find one par
ticular article He had notified all parties
that after July 1st all cases arriving in that
manner would be opened as being sus-
picious.
Mr.. Kinney submitted the case without
The Attorney General briefly pointed
out that these goods were detained by Off
GERS in their official capacity under lawful
which he quoted. The Customs
officers have authority to hold such for
reasonable time, and these were held in
the regular course of business. Further,
the goods were not landed until two days
after the suit was brought.
Judgment was reserved.
Major j. H. Wodehouse, British Com
was present during the hearing
Yesterday.